The Wilderness Society at Mitcham: forests and catchments on the agenda

Most of the big environmental groups are located in the inner city of Melbourne and seldom take their meetings or operations far from the inner suburbs.  Full marks to the Wilderness Society.  It is coming to Mitcham in the Middle East of Melbourne.  So please support this meeting and the Victorian forests and catchment areas by coming to this conveniently located meeting.

Mitcham
Wednesday 28 April 2010 - 6.30pm
The Willis Room (front of the Civic Centre)
Whitehorse Civic Centre, 379 Whitehorse Road, Nunawading
Melways ref: 48 G9

For further details regarding these meetings contact Jacquie Kelly t: 03 9038 0814 e:jacquie.kelly@wilderness.org.au

And this is what the meeting is all about:

In 2010 there is a unique opportunity to help  protect Victoria’s water catchments and carbon banks from woodchipping.

In Victoria alone in the last twelve months, we have pushed the Brumby Government to protect another 140,000 hectares of red gum and old growth forests in new reserves and National Parks.

This could not have been achieved without  support. But more needs to be done.

Victoria’s forests are our water catchments, carbon stores and home to a range of rare and threatened wildlife. Yet tragically logging and woodchipping reduces water supply and quality and releases dangerous CO2 emissions into the atmosphere, making climate change worse. On top of that, native wildlife such as the Long-footed Potoroo is pushed closer to extinction.

It’s time for the Victorian government to act. In the lead up to the 2006 election, the Victorian Govt promised to protect the last remaining stands of old growth forest. This promise has not been delivered.

2010 is an election year, so it’s your chance to stand up for protecting water catchments and taking decisive action on climate change. It’s also the year when Victoria’s huge plantation estate reaches maturity, and is now large enough to substitute for logging native forests.